Then There Were Four
by Bellatrix wannabe 89
Summary: A tragic accident left Simon and Tracy dead and their two children orphans. With Tracy's brother fighting overseas, Olivia has no choice but to care for the two kids she barely knows, all while trying to convince the state she can handle being a mother to Noah. Can the four of them learn to become a family or are these damaged children too far gone for the Sergeant to save?
1. Chapter 1

I own no one but my own people.

 **A/N So in 'Childs Welfare', Ty was five and little Olivia (who, even though I would NEVER call Olivia Benson this, shall be known as 'Livvie' from here on out to halt any confusion) was one so for the sake of this story, Ty is now ten and Livvie is now six. This takes place smackdab in the middle of season 16 so Liv is still just Noah's foster parent instead of his adoptive mother. Please enjoy. And review. But mostly enjoy.**

Olivia Benson got used to having no family. There was no one on her fathers' side, or so she thought, and the only people on her mothers' side was her grandparents who wanted nothing to do with not only a bastard but a bastard conceived out of rape who had ruined Serena's life, and her mother, who had to drink just to deal with the mere existence of her daughter.

Needless to say, family was something that the Sergeant had coveted more than anything else in the world her entire life… And eventually she found it in the form of Simon Marsden.

Simon made her life absolute hell. He almost cost Olivia her shield, he almost got her killed, and then he just stopped talking to her after she got him out of trouble. Then out of the blue he showed up in her life again, only to ask for her help getting his children back, but he was back nonetheless.

Then, just like before, the two siblings fell apart. Olivia with work, Simon with trying to keep his nose clean so that he could regain custody of his daughter, which, thankfully, he managed to do. But then William Lewis happened and Olivia's face was plastered all over the news, all over the papers first as a missing person and then as a victim of a sadistic psychopath not once but twice. The day she was found he came to the hospital to see her but she had refused to see him, and all other visitors.

The next day he tried again but still she refused, not wanting to single Simon out but she didn't want ANYONE to see her. But Simon took it personally and eventually just like before, he stopped trying and that was the last she heard of him.

Until today…

It was a car crash. A childless middle-aged drunk driving a four-door pickup after a night of drinking walked away with a few scratches while Tracy, whom he had gotten back together with two years after the supervised sentence was suspended, and Simon both were killed on impact.

A uni came to Olivia's door and told her what happened. When she heard the news, she didn't sob or break down in tears. She was just… numb. She couldn't believe the only family she had left was gone but at the same time it didn't hit as hard as she thought it would.

As a matter of fact, it barely made her feel anything. THAT was what upset her…

"Ma'am?" the uni asked after she stood there in stunned silence for a long moment. "Ma'am are you alright?"

Olivia swallowed hard as her mind whirled with a million thoughts and questions before finally committing to a single one. "The kids…" she whispered barely loud enough for her to hear herself.

"Excuse me?"

Olivia cleared her throat and spoke louder. "The kids… Ty and Olivia, where are they, are they safe?"

"We have them at the station right now," he informed her.

"Alright… Any other family members you've gotten ahold of?"

The officer shook his head. "Both sets of parents are dead, no aunts or uncles… Tracy has a sister in Atlanta but right now she's serving her second year out of a 15-25 sentence, and she has a brother who lives in North Carolina but as luck would have it he's staying in Manhattan for the next week. He's the one actually listed on the deceased will to get the children if anything should happen but right now but we can't get ahold of him."

The lieutenant swallowed hard before she spoke. Slowly, like each word was difficult to get out.

"They can't… They can't spend the night in a police station, not after their parents both died." The officer said nothing as Olivia took another deep breath. "I'm willing to take them in until you can find the brother."

"You sure?"

Olivia nodded, already feeling her heart begin to race, "I can't leave those kids alone right now."

"Alright. You wanna get dressed, you can follow me to the precinct?"

"I need to get my son ready first," she told him.

With the officer agreeing to wait until Olivia got Noah ready to go she headed into the baby's room, silently making up the diaper bag she would be bringing with her. Then she gently picked him up with the hope that she wouldn't wake him, trying to maneuver him into his coat which proved far more difficult than it looked.

Grabbing two bottles from the fridge and a blanket from his crib, she and the officer headed out into the night. The long drive back to the precinct Olivia's mind racing the whole time she followed the cop back to his place of work.

Her brother was dead. Her only family, her only sibling was gone. The only person she had right now was her son but even that was looking iffy since Miss Jackson, so it seemed to the Sergeant, made it her personal mission in life to take Noah away from her.

How could this have happened? How could life snatch away the one person related to her by blood? It wasn't fair.

As she got nearer the precinct the closer the tears got to falling and by the time she pulled up to the precinct she had to sit in the car for a moment so she could wipe her tears away and compose herself. After about a minute or so she took a deep breath, got a still sleeping Noah out of the car and headed into the police precinct.

"They're in the holding cell," the officer who had showed up at her apartment told her.

"Their parents just died and you put them in a jail cell?" asked Olivia a hint of anger in her tone.

The officer simply shrugged as he led her over to the holding cells where there were two young children, one a young black boy not older than ten and the other a small six-year-old mixed girl, both sitting on the hard metal bench used for sleeping but neither one of them were asleep.

The officer quickly opened the door which, thankfully, hadn't been locked.

"Hey you guys," the officer said as he and Olivia approached them. Both Ty and his sister looked up at the cop and the Lieutenant standing behind him. "We um… We weren't able to get ahold of your uncle, but we managed to find your aunt, you're gonna stay with her until we contact him."

Neither Ty nor the little girl said anything and instead just looked at one another before looking back at the officer. Olivia took a deep breath before she walked into the cell, shifting Noah to her other hip.

"Hi guys. I'm Simons sister Olivia."

Both children seemed to perk up slightly at the name. While they may not have seen her in years, they had clearly heard the name before.

"You're gonna spend the night with me. Is that alright?"

A shrug from the children.

"Did you guys bring anything with you?" asked Olivia.

"We um… We got a call as we were making the notification," the officer said, "we had to hurry them back here before they could really pack up."

The Lieutenant shook her head, eyeing the officer with disgust. "Real nice." She turned back to the two children. "You wanna get going then?"

Another shrug.

"Okay come on, let's get you guys outta here."

The two of them got up from the bed they were sitting on and followed Olivia out of the precinct and back to her car.

"Ty, you wanna ride up from with me?" the Lieutenant asked as she put a still sleeping Noah back in his car-seat. "It can get a little crowded back here with the car-seat."

Instead of answering he just shot her a small glare before he got in the back of the car, slamming his door shut behind him. Olivia raised her brow at the reaction before she turned to the little girl who was looking up at the brunette.

"How about you?" she asked the six-year-old. "You wanna sit in the front seat?"

Still saying nothing the girl nodded and Olivia opened the passenger side door, lifted her namesake up, made sure she was buckled, and away they went.

They drove in silence for a little bit, the tension as thick as metal before Olivia forced herself to speak. "You guys hungry?" No response. "Pizza, Chinese, burgers, whatever you two want I'm sure Manhattan has a late-night spot that serves it." Nothing but more silence. "Ty?" Olivia asked looking in her rearview mirror at the ten-year-old. "You want something to eat?"

He ignored her and Olivia pursed her lips for a moment before she turned to the young girl sitting beside her.

"How about you, Olivia?" the brunette asked. "You hungry?"

"Livvie."

It took the officer a minute to realize Ty had finally spoken up. She glanced at him in the rearview mirror and saw the ten-year-old looking back.

"Mom and Simon called her 'Livvie'," he explained a bit short, as if the Lieutenant should have already known. "She's only 'Olivia' when she gets in trouble."

"…Oh. Okay. Thank you for letting me know," Olivia said with a smile, trying to cut some of the tension between them but Ty just gave her another short-lived glare and looked back out the window.

She swallowed hard before she turned her attention back to the road in front of her.

"So how about it, Livvie?" Olivia tried once more. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Livvie shook her head before she turned to look out the window.

After a few minutes, Ty spoke up again. "Can you turn the radio on?" the young boy asked.

Olivia looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Noah still sleeping and bit her lip as she turned her attention back to the road. "Sweetie, I would but the baby's asleep, I don't want to wake him. I'm sorry but we'll be at the apartment soon okay?"

Ty glared at the back of her seat before he flopped back in his seat with a huff, crossing his arms.

There was an awkward tense silence the rest of the trip back to her apartment before they finally pulled into her spot in the parking garage. The Sergeant carried Noah and the diaper bag to the apartment with Ty and Livvie following her in.

She gave them a quick tour and, after they both insisted that they weren't hungry, Olivia gave them both an old large t-shirt Brian had left there to sleep in, and tucked them into her bed.

"Your uncle will be here in the morning to pick you guys up okay? I will be right in the living room if you need anything okay?" she told the two young children as she pulled the blankets over them. "You want me to stay with you guys until you fall asleep? I know how scary it can be in a new place."

"We're fine," answered Ty a bit short. Olivia sucked in her bottom lip before she turned to the small girl who looked even smaller in the large queen sized bed than normal.

"How about you Livvie? You want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

"She's fine," Ty said before Livvie could answer. "We're tired and just want to go to bed, just leave us alone."

The brunette Sergeant raised her brow but nevertheless just leaned over and kissed the young girl's forehead. "Good night, Livvie," she told the five-year-old before coming over to Ty's side of the bed. She reached down to hug him but he turned his back towards her.

"…Oh. Um… goodnight, Ty."

He offered nothing in response so she just turned and left the room, shutting the light off and the door as she left.

Olivia awoke hours later to a knock on her door. She groaned as she glanced at her watch noting that it wasn't even 6:30 in the morning yet and she had already told Dodds she was taking several personal days.

She slumped to the door and saw a very tall very muscular black male standing outside.

"You're Tracy's brother?" the Sergeant asked when she opened the door.

"Thomas Harrison," he told her, offering her his hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Sergeant."

"Likewise, and please call me Olivia. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

She shut the door behind him and motioned to the chair in the living room. "You want to sit down while I put on some coffee or did you want to just take the kids and leave? Whatever you want is fine with me."

"I um… I think you should probably put on the coffee, we have some things we need to talk about. About the kids…"

Olivia furrowed her brow in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Thomas took a deep breath before he spoke. "The only reason why I'm up here this week is because I'm on my week leave from my base in North Carolina. Hell, that's why they couldn't find me last night, I was out drinking with my squad. I'm a Special Forces Sergeant in the Army, they're giving me an extra week furlough because of my sister's death but in two weeks I'm on an eighteen-month deployment to Afghanistan."

Olivia's face fell as the man's words registered with her. "Wait so… So that means…"

"I can take them after I come home, but Olivia… You're gonna have to take care of these kids until I get back…"

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	2. Chapter 2

**I own no one but my own people**

Olivia blinked once, twice, three times. She opened her mouth to argue, to laugh, to do anything but she couldn't do anything but stand in her kitchen slack jawed and wide eyed.

"There… There can't… No- I- I can't, I-…" she stammered out but had to close her mouth and take a eep breath before she continued. "I can't take them in."

"You have to," Thomas argued. "They don't have anywhere else to go."

"Wha-… What about your family? An aunt, a grandparent, estranged second cousin… ANYONE?"

"Our mother died two years ago and our father is 87 and lives in a nursing home in Queens. The only other family member we have is a sister serving 15-25 for killing the man who killed her daughter."

"What about Simons family?"

Thomas narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Wouldn't you know better than me? You're his sister."

"Half sister. I didn't even know he existed until 8 years ago and we weren't exactly close."

"…Oh. Sorry. But as far as I know, the only family he ever talked about was you."

Olivia rubbed her temples as she sat down at her kitchen table, now feeling wide awake despite the coffee that was brewing in the coffee pot. "Look, as much as I want to take them, I can't. Not right now, if my sons caseworker knew I had two more children living here-."

"Caseworker? What like CPS?" he interrupted, eyeing her uneasily.

Olivia resisted rolling her eyes at the inclination. "No. Noah is my foster son, I'm working on adopting him," she explained. "Every foster child has a caseworker, some are more lax than others and some are… more diligent."

"I take it yours is the latter?"

The Sergeant nodded. "She's the one that recommends rather or not I get approved for adoption or not. I've passed all my home visits so far but…"

"But having two orphaned kids staying with you might put a damper on things," he finished for her.

"Exactly. You see now why I can't take them? Is there anyway for you to tell your job you can't go?"

Thomas looked at her like she had suddenly grown a second head. "You want me to tell not only the US Army, but the Special Forces branch of the US Army, that I can't go on an 18 month mission because it would inconvenience a civilian?"

"Point taken," she sighed.

Olivia leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temple. "I can't believe this… Theres' NOBODY else who can take care of them? What about a good friend of Tracey's or Simons?"

"… Okay I get this is inconveniencing you, buy they're your niece and nephew," he told her with a sharp edge in his voice. "How about stepping up for your family?

"I might get my son taken from me!" she barked. "You're approved for a set number of foster children you're allowed to bring in and I'm approved for one, not three, one. He was already taken out of a home that had too many children and his caseworker isn't exactly my biggest fan."

"Fine, fin… just calm down, alright?" Thomas told her holding up a hand. He waited until the fire in her eyes dimmed some before he continued. "What if… What if I talked to her? Lots of people tend to do what you want when a guy in uniform says to do it."

"You're gonna have to but if she says no…" She shook her head, not wanting to finish the sentence. "What about Ty's father? Can he take them?"

Thomas gave her a sad smile before he began. "Aaron was a medic in my squad, that's how he and Tracey met. She came down to Georgia to visit me, met Aaron… They got married a year after that, got divorced seven months after that when she realized being married to a soldier isn't exactly as glamorous as she thought it would be but she was already pregnant. Anyway, he was an amazing father, called that boy every single night, spent every second he could with him…"

"What happened to him?"

"He was on leave from his deployment and Ty was two years old at the time and was throwing a tantrum because they were out of his favorite cerial so his dad ran out to get some… There was a mugger who killed him for the thirty two dollars in his wallet."

"I didn't know, I mean Simon never told me."

"Simon was a really good step father," said Thomas. "Ty really loved him, called him 'dad', Simon loved him just as much as he loved Livvie. He blamed himself for what happened when they were taken away."

"…He was five years old."

"He thinks it was his bruise that caused everything to spiral out of control… And the other night Simon and Tracy were going out to get something for a school project he needed."

"Jesus…" Olivia breathed. "Poor kid."

"Yeah… He's had a few bumps in his life. And if you refuse to take them, he's gonna have to go to go stay with friends of his parents."

"They'd probably prefer that," she argued but Thomas could see her resolve waning. "I met them once."

"You're their family, Olivia… Even if they don't know you yet, they will."

When she said nothing in response he leaned back in his chair. "Call your caseworker, explain the situation. If she wants to talk to me I'm more than happy to."

Knowing she was out of arguments Olivia threw him a small glare before she got out her phone and dialed the number she dreaded seeing on her screen.

After three rings the voice of Mariam Jackson answered with an icy, "It's a little early for a phone call isn't it Miss. Benson?"

"It- yes it is, I apologize," Olivia managed to stammer out. She had looked death in the eye and tempted it several times but there was something about this woman that sent fear through every part of her. Knowing the power she held over her, knowing that with a single word she could take away the person she loved most on this earth frightened her to the core. "I um… I have a little situation that came up last night."

"Last night? You didn't think to call me until this morning?"

"I- I wasn't- it wasn't a situation until this morning… I mean it started last night but it- it didn't become a situation until this morning."

"Just tell me what's going on, Miss. Benson, I don't have time for games."

Another hard swallow. "Of course not. My brother and his girlfriend died last night."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you but um… he- he had two children."

A very long moment of silence. "Go on."

"They left them to the girlfriends brother but he's a soldier and he's actually leaving on a deployment for eighteen months next week. They don't have anyone else, you've done the research, theres… Simon was the last of my family," said Olivia sadly, her face falling as she realized the severity of her words.

"The mother didn't have anyone else?"

"Just the brother." Olivias hearts pounded hard against her ribs when Jackson didn't answer. "If this is gonna cause an issue with Noah, we can find something different!" she added quickly. "I'm sure the parents had friends they could stay with, I don't have to take them."

"You're willing to throw out your own family?" Jackson asked with a tone of disapproval.

"No! I- I just meant-!"

"Are you planning to apply to foster or adopt these children?"

"No, they're just going to stay with me until the brother gets back from his deployment."

Another sigh. "This is a very unusual situation, Miss. Benson." Olivia said nothing for fear of saying the wrong thing again. "But… seeing as these children have nowhere else to go and it's only on a temporary basis, I'm going to allow them to stay with you."

A breath of relief. "Thank you."

"But let me warn you, Miss. Benson… your commitment to your foster son better not waiver. I'm not going to let you get away with any slacking simply because you're choosing to take in two more children."

"Of course not. Noah is my first priority, always."

"Those other two children staying with you are going to be your first priority too, correct? Don't forget, your foster son could get taken away just as easily for you neglecting or abusing other children in your care as well."

"I would never abuse or neglect a child," she added with a bit of fierceness in her voice.

"Good. I'll see you on the twentieth for another home inspection. Have a good day, Miss. Benson."

Olivia let out a heavy breath as the beep signified the case worker hung up.

"She sound pleasant," Thomas said once Olivia set the phone down on the table.

"That was her practically chipper," she muttered. The Sergeant leaned back in her chair shaking her head before she cleared her throat. "Anyway… I am sorry for the loss of your sister. She seemed like a really sweet woman who really loved her family."

"She was," Thomas said with a sad smile. "She had this smile that just… lit up the entire room."

Olivia offered a kind smile and was about to ask him to tell her more about the woman she had barely gotten to know when her bedroom door opened and Ty walked out rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Hey, Ty," Olivia greeted with a friendly smile. "You're up kinda early"

An unintelligible grumble was his only answer.

"What no good morning?" said Thomas and in a flash Ty jerked his head up and stared wide eyed at the man sitting at Olivia's kitchen island.

"Uncle Tee!" the young boy shouted before he sprinted over to the soldier. Thomas picked him up and Ty wrapped his arms around his neck as tight as he could. The heart wrenching sobs shook the young boys body as Thomas hugged him, gently rubbing his back.

"Mama and Simon are gone!" Ty sobbed into his uncle's shoulder.

"I know, little man, I know…" Thomas whispered, holding back his own tears. "It's alright…"

"It's not fair!"

Some time passed before the sobs subsided to silent tears that were streaming down his face. "Are me and Livvie gonna live with you?" Ty asked still hugging his uncle as tight as he could.

Thomas bit his lip before he turned to Olivia who rubbed the back of her neck and cleared her throat. "Ty, why don't… why don't we wait until your sister is up before we talk about that?"

Ty looked between the two adults, his face falling as he did. "Wha… No, Uncle Tee, we're living with you right?" he asked, a mild panic setting into his voice.

"Ty, listen," Thomas began as gentle as he could. "You know that I'm in the military, and sometimes I have to go overseas because there's a lot of bad guys over there hurting a lot of good people, and its my job to stop them."

"I wanna stay with you!" Ty cried, the tears that had fallen earlier making a full comeback.

"And in eighteen months you will, but for now you and your sister are gonna live with Olivia."

"No!" he cried louder and Olivia bit her lip as she looked at the small room where Noah laid sleeping hoping that the outburst hadn't woken him up. "Please let us go with you!"

"Calm down, little man," Thomas said not unkindly. "I know this is hard but your aunt loves you and your sister as much as I love you guys, you two are gonna be fine."

The young boy let out another sob and hugged his uncle tighter. "Please don't go!"

"Sweetie, its gonna be alright," Olivia told him softly placing a gentle hand on Ty's back but he pushed it off him.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled at her. Sure enough the sounds of Noah crying came right after his outburst.

The Sergeant sighed softly as she rubbed her temple as she looked at Thomas who appeared apologetic for their nephews outburst.

"I got him," Thomas told her with a nod towards the room where Noah was crying. "Go take care of your son."

With a thankful look Olivia headed into Noahs room and picked up the crying 15 month old.

"Hey, my love," she cooed gently as she picked him up and cradled him, gently rubbing his back. "It's alright, Noah, you're fine. Things just got a little loud…"

After she changed him and gave him his favorite pacifier she sat down in the rocking chair next to his crib and genty rocked him until his crying subsided.

"Our little apartment is about to get a lot more crowded," she told her son quietly so that she barely heard herself much less the ten year old boy in the next room. "Your cousins are moving in with us. Think we can handle this?"

He offered no response except for a content coo.

"Thought so," she sighed, kissing the top of his head.

Olivia and Noah stayed like that for several minutes, content just to be in one another's pressense before there was a soft knock on Noahs bedroom door before Thomas walked in, his phone in hand.

"One of my soldiers got arrested, I need to go bail him out," he informed her. He chuckled softly. "The exciting life of Special Forces. I sent Ty back to bed, maybe he'll warm up to the idea once he gets a little bit more sleep."

"That's fine. I um… I really didn't know Simon or Tracy," she admitted. "If you want to do all the planning for… for the funerals on your own I fully understand but if you need help in ANY way, I'll gladly help."

"I'm fine with doing it on my own but… He was your brother, and he DID love you, Olivia." The Sergeant had to hold back an eyeroll at that. He spoke to her once in five years and that was only because he had been in trouble with the children she didn't even know he had. "I think it'll help you if you did help plan it. Let you have a chance to say goodbye in your own way."

Olivia gave him a sad smile as she stood up from the rocking chair, Noah still in her arms. "Thanks but… I think me and Simon said goodbye to one another a long time ago."

Thomas' face fell at who would have been his sister in laws words as he watched her take a shaking breath. "I'm gonna go over to their apartment later with Ty and Livvie and get their stuff, put the rest of it in storage," she told him. "Hopefully he warms up to me soon."

"Ty's a good kid. He really is, he's just… he's dealing with a lot right now," Thomas argued.

"I don't doubt that, I just don't want him miserable for the next eighteen months."

"Well if you're as good an aunt as you are a mother, he'll love staying here with you. Eventually," he added with a slight smirk.

Olivia chuckled, kissing the top of Noahs head once more before she walked him out. "If you need anything while you're here, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Of course not. I'll call you later with any details. Thanks, Olivia."

"No problem."

The two of them offered eachother one last friendly smile before he turned and left.

As Olivia shut the door behind him she leaned against it, her heart pounding hard against her ribs, any smile she had wiped away from her face entirely.

What the hell had she gotten into?

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	3. Chapter 3

**I own no one but my own people**

"I know I signed the lease, I'm not trying to get out of my lease, all I'm trying to do is move into a more expensive apartment one floor above me and make you more money."

Olivia sighed as she rubbed her temple as she shifted Noah to her other hip as she glanced over the hardcopy of her apartment lease, trying to find SOMETHING that would legally allow her to get out of the agreement she was in so she could rent the three bedroom on the floor above her instead of the two bedroom she was, until quite literally the other night, quite content in.

But she realized she couldn't have a ten-year-old boy sleeping with a six-year-old girl and she was positive even at six years old, the little girl wouldn't want to share a room with a grown woman and a one year old. So, she figured she would get a three bedroom where Ty and Livvie would have their own rooms while, as much as she hated it, Noah would have to go back in the living room where he slept before she converted the study into a nursery.

"It's in the same exact building, it's not like I'm moving out," she argued, trying not to let her frustration show with the situation. "Look these kids… these kids have been through hell okay? The least I can do is give them their own space for the next year or so. They lost everything, Mr. London… Can't you let them have this one thing? What if it was your children?"

Olivia grinned as she heard her landlord, who had four children of his own, sigh with annoyance, knowing she had hit him where it hurt the most. Her smile grew as he told her that he would email her an updated lease for the apartment above her later that day.

She thanked him after promising she wouldn't tell any other resident about their arrangement and hung up, turning to Noah who had sat through the phone call as patiently as a 15-month-old could.

"We're moving upstairs, Noah," she told her son. "You okay with that?"

Another silent look as an answer.

She kissed him on top of the head as a reply. "Thought so. There's gonna be a lot of changes around here actually… I don't know if I'm ready for any of them but just know that we're gonna get through this together alright?" Another kiss. "I love you."

Olivia leaned back on the couch and just started to close her eyes, already exhausted from the day, when her bedroom door opened and her six-year-old namesake walked out. Olivia opened her eyes and gave a tired smile to the small girl who shuffled over to her, her thumb in her mouth and her curls flying in every direction, the large t-shirt she was wearing that swept the floor making her appear even smaller.

"Hey, sweetie," Olivia greeted the young girl. "You want some breakfast?"

Livvie nodded as she rubbed the sleep from her brown eyes, eyes that looked almost identical to her aunts as Olivia stood up from the couch, Noah still in her arms. Livvie gently tugged on her shirt as Olivia walked over to the kitchen, lifting her arms up in what was the universal sign for 'pick me up' when the Sergeant looked down at her.

Olivia bit her lip for a second before she kissed Noah on the cheek and set him down on the ground, ignoring the pouty look on her sons face as he lifted his arms up, letting out a small whine to get her attention.

"You can go two minutes without being held, my love," she told Noah as she turned and picked up the young girl who wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck and buried her head in her shoulder.

Noah responded with a pitiful lip tremble as he toddled after Olivia as she made her way into the kitchen pulling on her pant leg, thinking there had to be some sort of mistake.

Apart from when he wanted to be set down, his mother hardly ever put him down. Now she didn't just set him down but picked up some stranger instead of him?

That wasn't about to fly…

"You want French toast?" Olivia asked Livvie, knowing that the cereal she had probably wouldn't be kid approved.

Noah let out a small annoyed whine, pulling on her pantleg again. Why wasn't she paying attention to him?

"Noah, you need to stop," Olivia said, her heart breaking as he looked up at her knowing he was on the verge of tears.

The small boy pouted and, as she predicted, let out a cry as he clung to her pantleg. Olivia bit back a sigh as she bent down to Noah's level. She had no idea how she was going to deal with this… "Sweetie, come on, calm down," she told her son who just responded with trying to push Livvie out of his mother's arms who just whined and clung to her tighter.

"Noah, stop," she scolded him. It wasn't loud or overly harsh but it got her point across to the toddler.

Noah's cries subsided into pathetic sniffling as he tried to get his point across by lifting his arms up again.

"You wanna watch Thomas?" Olivia asked, hoping his favorite Thomas the Train movie she had practically memorized at this point would be enough to hold him over. "Hmm? Come on, sweetie, I'll put in Thomas for you okay?"

Noah looked at his mother as he debated his options for a moment before he finally nodded, wiping away the tears that had fallen.

Letting out a breath of relief that she had dealt with her first sibling drama without too many issues Olivia stood up from the floor, Livvie still in her arms, and turned on the Thomas the Train DVD that was in the DVD player.

"So how about that French Toast?" asked Olivia once Noah was fully engulfed in his movie and she was back in the kitchen. Livvie nodded but remained silent and Olivia looked at her for a moment frowning. She would have to ask Ty later rather or not the staying silent thing was new for her.

Having already mastered the one-handed cooking technique with Noah, Olivia managed to make not three as was customary prior to this, but six pieces of French toast all while she held Livvie in her other arm.

Just as the Sergeant began plating Ty walked out, still wearing Oliva's oversized shirt from last night.

"Hey, Ty," she greeted with a friendly smile as she set Livvie down in one of the chairs so she could cut Noah's piece up into bite size pieces. "You're just in time for French Toast."

Ty said nothing as he sat down next to his sister, looking over at Olivia as she plated the rest of the breakfast onto their respected plates.

"Can you cut it yourself or do you want me to?" Olivia asked Livvie as she set her plate down in front of her. Livvie said nothing and instead just held out her fork and knife to Olivia.

"She likes it in sticks," Ty informed her as Olivia began to cut it. "Then she likes the syrup in a bowl so she can dunk it."

"Got it. Thank you for letting me know," she said with another smile that he just rolled his eyes at and began to butter his own piece.

The Sergeant held back a remark at the eyerolling as she finished cutting up the breakfast food the desired way before grabbing Noah and placing him in his highchair. She grabbed the syrup from the fridge, a medium sized jug of natural organic Vermont maple syrup and gave a small drizzle over Noah's breakfast before she grabbed a small bowl and poured some in it for Livvie before setting it in front of Ty who eyed it like it was a snake rearing its head to strike.

"What's that?" he asked pointing to the gray jug.

"That's syrup," Olivia answered as she sat down at her own chair.

Ty shook his head. "Syrup comes in the bottle that looks like a lady," he told her in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

"Well some syrup does, but that's my syrup. Try it, it's good."

Ty gave her a short-lived glare as he grabbed the jug and drizzled some of it over his own French toast, frowning at the syrup that was a lot thinner than he was used to. He cut a piece of it and gave it a small nibble, making a face like he had been forced to eat a lemon. "It's not even sweet, it doesn't taste good," he told her, making a show of wiping his tongue off with his napkin.

Livvie seemed to have the same consensus as her brother. When she dunked her French toast stick into the natural syrup and taking a bite, she promptly frowned and set it back down again.

"You didn't even make the French toast right," Ty continued with an attitude, "Mama always put cinnamon in it."

Olivia pursed her lips for a moment before she cleared her throat, reminding herself that he had not even lost his mother and step dad twenty-four hours ago.

"Okay… How about I make you some scrambled eggs instead?"

Livvie nodded and Ty didn't say agree but he didn't object to the plan B either. Olivia abandoned her own breakfast and got out the carton of eggs again, trying to hide the fact that her eggs were brown, having a feeling that neither Livvie or Ty would take as kindly to the free range brown eggs she used as they did to the natural syrup.

Unfortunately; her suspicions were confirmed and even more unfortunate, Ty happened to catch a glimpse of the shell as it went into the trash.

"I don't want brown eggs!" he whined.

Olivia took a deep breath before she turned towards him. She was willing to admit the syrup she bought didn't taste as sweet as Mrs. Butterworth, but there was no difference in brown and white eggs besides the fact that her supermarket had them on sale this week opposed to the white ones. "Ty, they taste no different than the white ones."

"Yuh uh! They taste different!"

"No they don't."

"Do too!"

"Well that's all I have right now." She could feel her temper beginning to rise and she forced it back down. "Do you want cheerios instead of eggs?"

Ty just glared at her for a moment and hopped down off the chair. "I'm not hungry," he snapped at her, going back into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.

Olivia leaned against the kitchen wall, running her hands over her face before she turned towards Livvie who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Sweetie, it's okay," she told the young girl as gently as she could. "Do you still want scrambled brown eggs?"

Livvie sniffed and shook her head.

"You want cheerios?"

A nod.

Confident that she couldn't mess that up and the carton of organic milk she had wasn't too different from the non-organic they were used to, Olivia made her a bowl of cereal and, finally, the young girl began to eat her breakfast.

Afterwards Livvie decided to watch Thomas with Noah and Olivia decided she would try to talk to Ty and get him to open up somewhat.

"Ty?" she began after softly knocking on the door as she opened it. The young boy was sitting on the bed, his knees pulled to his chest. "Hey, honey… You doing okay?"

He said nothing and just turned away from her as she sat on the edge of her bed, "I thought we could head out to your guy's apartment, get some of your clothes then maybe we could go out for McDonalds for lunch? They only serve white eggs there," she added with a chuckle.

No response.

Olivia sighed for a moment before she leaned over and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for what happened, Ty. For losing your dad and your mom and your step dad, for not being able to go with your uncle, and I bet you feel like you have to look out for your little sister and watch over her right now… It's a lot for a little boy to take on. I know changes can be scary, Ty, and it's scary for me too."

Ty said nothing and instead just looked down at the floor, tears welling in his eyes.

"This is a big change for me too," she continued. "I'm gonna go from raising one kid to raising three overnight… kids of a brother I barely even knew." Olivia had to take a shaking breath before she continued. "But I do love you, Ty; you and your sister. We're gonna get through this together okay?"

Still nothing.

Olivia sighed softly before she stood up from the bed. She had just begun to walk out when a small voice came from where he was sitting.

"They DO taste different…"

The sergeant turned back around, her heart breaking when she saw the young boy in tears. "The brown eggs and the white DO taste different. And your syrup isn't sweet, and mom-," he wiped his eyes furiously, "she put cinnamon in it because me and Livvie don't like it plain."

Olivia hurried over to him and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Don't!" he whined but instead of pushing her away he hugged her back. "I'm not a baby…" he grumbled.

"I know, Ty." She kissed the top of his head. "I know…"

They stayed like that for a moment before they pulled away from one another and Olivia ran a hand through his hair. "I'll tell you what, why don't we go grocery shopping after lunch? We can get whatever kind of syrup and eggs you want okay?"

Ty nodded, wiping more of his tears away.

She kissed the top of his head again. "I love you, sweetie. Now come on, get dressed, and we're gonna go to your apartment alright?"

Another nod.

"Good."

Olivia left the bedroom, a slight smile on his face.

Maybe things would be alright after all…

 **Please Review. And no, this isn't the start of the fluff. Not by a long shot**


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